Fed May Fine Community Trust in Ky. for Overdraft Practices

The Federal Reserve may be preparing to fine Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) in Pikeville, Ky., for deceptive overdraft practices.

Fed staff has recommended that its consumer-affairs division cite the $3.6 billion-asset lender for unfair and deceptive methods of assessing overdraft fees, Community Trust disclosed Friday in a regulatory filing. Community Trust expects the Fed's action to result in a charge against earnings, but can't estimate the size of the charge, it said.

The company did not immediately return calls seeking comment, and the filing did not specify what practices the Federal Reserve has been investigating. Community Trust believes the practices in question "are neither unfair nor deceptive and are consistent with methodologies prevalent in the banking industry," the filing stated.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began investigating the banking industry's use of overdraft fees in 2012. The regulator released a report in June claiming that banks have been overcharging customers, and that these unfair charges frequently lead to customers' accounts being closed.